Refuse containers are used at nearly every business or residential location in the United States and throughout the world that generates waste material, including refuse or recyclables. Consequently, storage and removal of the waste material is a major task that requires a significant amount of resources, including money, time, and human resources. Waste material is typically stored in a container, such as a refuse container, prior to collection and removal. Customers that pay for waste removal typically pay for this service based on the amount of waste material removed and the number of refuse container collections. Increasing the size of the refuse container may decrease the frequency of collections, but larger containers present several problems. Larger containers take up additional space, which is not often not readily available. Larger containers also require specialized equipment to pick up and remove or empty the waste material from the containers. Optimizing collection of the waste material from the containers can reduce waste removal costs.
Customers that pay for waste removal must also contend with unauthorized use of their refuse containers, such as by third-parties depositing material in their containers or stealing their containers. Unauthorized use of the customers' containers increases the cost of waste removal. Implementing monitoring procedures to optimize collection of waste material and prevent unauthorized use of containers is often costly or impossible due to the typically remote and mobile nature of refuse containers.
Therefore, there is a need for a container alert system that can operate remotely and without the use of batteries.